France experiments with paying people to cycle to work

France experiments with paying people to cycle to work

France is trialing a six-month experiment, paying people to cycle to work to try and improve fitness and air pollution levels, while reducing fossil fuel consumption.

France experiments with paying people to cycle to work

The introduction of the bike-to-work incentive sees them joining other European countries including Denmark, Germany, Belgium, Britain and the Netherlands which have already implemented various types of incentives ranging from tax breaks, to payments per kilometer and financial assistance for buying bikes.

So far, around 20 French companies and institutions employing some 10,000 people have signed up to pay staff 25 euro cents per kilometer pedaled to work, according to the French transport ministry.

Frederic Cuvillier, France’s Transport Minister added that commuting by public transport and cars is already subsidized and that if the results of the bike-to-work scheme were successful, a second larger experiment would be carried out.

Historically, bike loan schemes have can be attributed to boosting bike commuting in cities such as Barcelona, London and Stockholm.